Ezekiel:Not sure I agree. Tom is a dick. He doesn't even wanna eat Jerry most of the time. He just hunts him for sport and plays with his prey. Some of it is horrific from Jerry's point of view. Usually, when Jerry wins, it's justice. I do like the reverse, though, and seeing them team up.

One thing I don't like is seeing the cat and mouse talk extensively. It's just weird.

I think that depends on the writer. Tom does often have situations where he's mistreating Jerry and gets what's coming to him, buuuuuut more often than not from what I've seen Jerry is the instigator and often just goes out of his way to make Tom's life miserable. Heck a lot of times Tom is put in a situation where he's just doing his job of trying to get Jerry out of the house because, y'know, he's a cat. I remember one episode in particular where Tom came to inherit a million bucks and Jerry started not only using Tom's money without his permission but lauded it over Tom that if he ever retaliated then he'd lose the fortune. To wit by the end Tom forced Jerry to eat the will and set about beating him senseless.

"You know? I'm throwin' away a million dollars. BUT I'M HAPPY!"

Or there's the one where Tom dies and is told because he tortured that poor mouse his whole life (my arse) he's going to hell unless Jerry forgives him in writing. Jerry refuses to do so.

Oh, I remember that millionaire episode. The catch was that the will stated Tom shouldn't harm even a mouse, or he would lose the heiritance. Jerry certainly was a colossal jerk in that one (even if the episode started with Tom torturing him)

I just watched this episode again. Tom deserved it. The episode began with him throwing darts blindfolded at Jerry, with the mouse tied up in front of the dartboard. Of course he was gonna get back at him! At one point he just wanted to share the expensive bed, but Tom stole the blanket. Later, he tried to kill Jerry by making him jump out a window. I found it fair that the episode ended with Tom happily beating Jerry. I never got all this complaining about Jerry being a dick. They're both dicks. That's part of the fun.

CaitSeith:Does that version include the black housemaid and the other racially insensitive scenes? Or it's already butchered?

It's uncensored. Apparently, Volume 2 was never made because people complained about two "controversial" episodes being removed from the next batch and wrote bad Amazon reviews because of it.

Oh, I remember that millionaire episode. The catch was that the will stated Tom shouldn't harm even a mouse, or he would lose the heiritance. Jerry certainly was a colossal jerk in that one (even if the episode started with Tom torturing him)

I just watched this episode again. Tom deserved it. The episode began with him throwing darts blindfolded at Jerry, with the mouse tied up in front of the dartboard. Of course he was gonna get back at him! At one point he just wanted to share the expensive bed, but Tom stole the blanket. Later, he tried to kill Jerry by making him jump out a window. I found it fair that the episode ended with Tom happily beating Jerry. I never got all this complaining about Jerry being a dick. They're both dicks. That's part of the fun.

IMO he went beyond getting even in that one. He pushed Tom past his breaking point. He pushed his luck way too far and made both lose the heritance. Not complaining, it has a good message: don't get too cocky when you have the upper hand.

It's simpler than that, actually; Wile E Coyote is acting as a money launderer for ACME, who needs a way to wash the kickbacks they're getting from hunting down, but almost never catching, Carmen Sandiego and her gang.

She had a gang?

...Clearly, someone didn't watch the show; while for once I can't blame you for not knowing this, there was more to the series than the video game.

It's funny that Tom & Jerry had the same transformation for me from childhood to adulthood as Ferris Bueller did: I've gone from seeing one side as inherently righteous to seeing both sides as pretty damn stupid and unlikeable. (Of course, it varied from episode to episode, but for the most part I remember Jerry being an asshole just as often as Tom.)

...Clearly, someone didn't watch the show; while for once I can't blame you for not knowing this, there was more to the series than the video game.

series? I remember the gameshow

I know it's been awhile. Honestly, I'm surprised I still remember all this. Basically, the gameshow always started with the contestants pursuing some criminal other than Carmen Sandiego. Guys like "Vick the Slick". I can't remember the other names. At some point the contestants would get to listen in on a phone conversation between Carmen and the criminal in question, suggesting that he's taking orders from her. The criminal always got caught, but thanks to the ridiculous time limit from the last challenge at the end, Carmen often got away.

So, the "gang" he's referring to must be the gaggle of elusive criminals who all do her bidding.

This prompted me to do a little research on the subject, lol. The maid was called "Mammy Two Shoes" in the show, and her appearance was definitely caricatured in the way blacks were often caricatured in cartoons at the time--especially black women. She was actually voiced by a black actress, and I don't recall her ever being made to behave in such a way which reflected poorly on blacks. Though granted I haven't seen any Tom and Jerry cartoon for a long time, and probably haven't seen every one featuring Mammy Two Shoes.

Various television versions have been censored in different ways, but Warner Brothers has been good about releasing DVD collections with uncensored versions of their cartoons. On the Tom and Jerry signature collection DVDs, the first Mammy Two Shoes appearance is preceded by this informative clip featuring Whoopi Goldberg. The use of Whoopi sort of smacks of "my black friend says it's okay," but it's actually really informative and I've got to hand it to Warner Brothers for being so open about it (at least on the DVD runs). I really wish Disney would do the same and just release Song of the South on Blu Ray already. It never even got a VHS run.

So to answer your question...sort of? She's a caricature and archetype, but her overall behavior is innocuous enough. Though that archetype came from a very racist place, and is certainly one nobody would be caught dead using today. So I dunno. It's not the worst racial stereotype in cartoons of that era, but it's definitely a racial stereotype. I see it both ways--it's definitely not something that should be shown on television lightly, but I also think editing her out is betraying the artists who created the cartoon and trying to pretend it didn't happen (while also erasing the vocal talent of Lillian Randolph). I think if WB really feels the need to air such old cartoons on television, starting it out with Whoopi's intro there would be the best way to do it.

Tom and Jerry will always be one of the most loved and remembered cartoon of all times.It is actually the display of the most basic human feelings of love and hate. Their love-hate relationship is something to which all us can relate in one way or the other.It is presented in the most hilarious way ever.Characters are really entertaining.I liked Jerry more when I was a kid.I liked his smartness.As an adult,I feel sorry for Tom.